What Do You Feed Your Corys
I have noticed that what puzzles people is not the type of fish to add to their ponds, but the right diet to give the fish. One particular fish is the Cory catfish that can go deep down the pond to search for its own food which makes people think they can leave them to "hustle" food for themselves, or they can feed them anything because they are not too choosy.
What do Cory Catfish Eat? Cory catfish can eat basic fish food like pellets, fish flakes, and bottom feeder tablets. They also enjoy eating plants, vegetables, and other foods that other fish left around. Sometimes, you can catch them eating algae. They enjoy scavenging, going to the deep to get food, so, they eat almost everything eatable they find there.
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To clearly understand what is best from many options to feed Cory catfish, you have to understand many parts of their nature and preferences.
They are one of the best fish to keep in your pond, as they play other fun roles than just staying all day in the pond. They eat almost everything, but do they eat poop? This and many other questions will not go unanswered in this post.
Cory Catfish Diet and Feeding
Whereas Cory Catfish can eat a variety of foods, their basic diet includes pellets, fish flakes, and bottom feeder tablets. Cory Catfish are known to be one of those types of fishes that spend hours roaming about the tanks, especially at the bottom, looking for food.
They can sometimes go to the extent of partially moving the gravel at the surface level under the water with mouths, whenever they are in search of food.
It is because of this nature of feeding that makes many people consider Cory Catfish as tank cleaners. However, it doesn't mean you drop them in your tank, forsake it, and always expect them to clean it for you. their presence should not be a means of tank care.
Although Corys are fond of scavenging for foods that are uneaten, it doesn't mean the Cory diet should all be leftovers. One of the many reasons for this is that it is possible that leftovers turn out to be in short supply, therefore, hobbyists must ensure that there are foods that meet their nutritional needs available at every point in time, and not rely on leftovers.
That does not mean you should overfeed them. The question of how often you should feed them is answered later in this post.
What about algae?
The presence of algae in any tank should not be mistaken to mean the water health is bad. In fact, having a few is compulsory, and the proof is when you check the natural water these fishes survive in, you find algae around.
However, algae grow quickly, therefore, you have to pay close attention to your tank so that you don't have them get out of control.
This is not a reason to add Cory Catfish. Although because they are bottom feeders, you may find them picking on algae, it doesn't mean they enjoy it better than foods, and it doesn't mean you should make it a necessary part of their diet.
Because of their nature of scavenging and eating almost anything that comes their way, people always assume Corys enjoy eating poop.
Poop eaters or not?
Till now, it is not proven that any freshwater fish has poop as a primary part of their diet. Although sometimes, you might catch your Corydoras eating poop, it does not mean there is a particular nutrient they get from it, so, it should not affect how you feed them.
You have to give them food, just like you will give any other fish. Fishes generally eat anything that looks like food to them in the water, however, they spill it out when they discover it is not edible.
So, sometimes, your Cory Catfish may pick up poop and spit it out, other times, they may pick it up and forget to spill it. Although it largely depends on the fish that processed it, there is nothing in poop that is useful for any fish that nibbles on it.
Does it help my tank?
I have seen some hobbyist who chose to add Cory Catfish to their tank because they assume their tank cleaning nature will help their tank health. That is far from the truth.
Cory's will not do a total cleaning of your tank for you, they will only ensure there are no wastes by eating up all the leftovers. Yeah, you may find them eating poop, but it is a great part of nature to also poop.
So, the Cory Catfish doing the poop cleaning is still going to poop in your tank. You may end up having a lot to clean.
Not just that, most of the nitrogenous wastes, Ammonia for example, are passed out through the gills, and not as poop. While you may be happy your Cory Catfish is picking poop all around, what do you do to the excreted Ammonia?
The best thing to do is not make your Corys rely on leftovers and poop for survival (although almost impossible), ensure you feed them at the right time, and in the right quantity. The right quantity is very important. You shouldn't overfeed your Cory Catfish too, it has its own disadvantage.
How much and how often should Corys be fed?
You only have to feed your Corys the quantity they can eat in five minutes. Feeding them once, or at most, twice a day is okay. They will spend the rest hours scavenging and getting foods for themselves, even when other fishes can't.
On the overall, keeping Cory Catfish is fun. Their lifestyle makes it less difficult to care for them when compared to some other fishes.
They are very active and you can find them all day searching around the bottom of the tank, looking for food, and, there are times you find them glued to a spot, resting.
Because of their eating habits, they tend to clean the tank. However, hobbyists should not rely on their nature then refuse to do the right things like feeding them accurately, and cleaning their tanks.
The Nature of Cory Catfish
The Cory Catfish is also called Cory Fish, Cory Cats, Corydoras Catfish. Whatever you choose to call them, the most amazing feature about them is not the name, but their nature.
They are one of the easiest fishes to keep in your home aquarium out there, and that is why in most cases, they are almost instantly recommended to beginner hobbyists who we want to encourage with less stress, before showing them fishes that require extra care and added work.
Most people refer to them as armored catfish. This is because they have a hard plate-like exterior. They are fairly gentle and easy going, and if you keep them, go for work, and for one reason or the other, get a long delay at work, there is no much fear because they can dig out foods themselves, enough to keep them till you are back, but not beyond your coming back, I advise.
You will find many types of Cory Catfish around, each having their distinct size and color. The most popular today seem to be the Bronze Cory Catfish, but you don't have to be out on the look for a particular type. Any type of Cory Catfish would be amazing to keep, at any point in time.
Cory catfish can survive under almost every aquarium size specification. Although most beginners put them in small covered tanks like 10-gallon aquariums, any size and dimension is good for them.
They can also enjoy being in larger tanks, you only have to keep details of the fish count and avoid overstocking. Remember, all living species tax the bio-load capacity of a tank.
If you are not careful of this, even when you supply them the right foods at the right time, you may still have some issues coming up.
For example, some types of Cory cats are quite timid and shy while others are very active and swift. If you keep these different types together (which of course is not wrong), if you overstock the aquarium, the more active ones could fetch all foods while the shy ones are still trying to figure out how to move almost unnoticed.
Although they are generally known to be active during the day, sometimes, they can choose to stay glued to a spot and continue resting. You may find them moving around the tank at night, but definitely, they are always more active during the day.
Related Questions
Do Cory cats eat algae? You may find them picking a bit at algae while scavenging at the bottom, but they are not primary algae eaters.
How often do Cory catfish eat? Feed them what they need for 2-5 minutes once or twice a day. They can spend the rest of the whole day collecting leftovers.
Do Cory catfish eat poop? Like other fishes, they might pick it up, but spit it out when they find it's not food. Because they are crazy eaters, sometimes, they swallow it.
Source: https://fishtankmaster.com/what-do-cory-catfish-eat/
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